YARMOUTH, Maine—When a bank considers making a loan to a security company it goes through a standard due diligence process, so if you’re a security company looking to acquire a competitor, “you should look for the same things that we look for in your business,” according to Jennifer Holloway, managing director in the Security Industry Group at The PrivateBank.

YARMOUTH, Maine—Santa Monica, Calif.-based Ascent Media Corporation announced Dec. 17 it had bought Monitronics International, one of the largest third party monitoring companies in the U.S. with more than 650,000 accounts, in a deal worth $1.2 billion.
While many of the finer details of the deal are as yet unrevealed, industry observers have come forward to discuss the information made publicly available in a Dec. 20 Ascent investor call.

ALBANY, N.Y.—Security alarm investors Timothy McGinn and David Smith—whom the SEC charged earlier this year with bilking investors of at least $80 million in a Ponzi scheme—are reportedly involved in a new investment venture.